[ We find Most Of Our Heroes sitting in the common room of the Flying Couches home. It's a bright and cheerful day outside, the sort where one is convinced nothing could go wrong. ] [ It's mid-morning, so you have the rest of the day ahead of you. Whatever will you do with it? ] [ Session Start! ] (Not a class day?) * Tia runs laps around the room. * Ariake is busy hauling various bits of metal plating and gears back and forth, tinkering with them, and then swapping them out for others. [ Not a class day. It's Sunday. No class on Sunday. ] * Seylin is sitting on a non-flying (at the moment) couch with a book. Yaaaaaaay! * Tia completes her 156th lap and commences on her 157th. * Patrick is fiddling with various chemicals. [ Seylin is brave, for she knows full well that any one of these couches could be made to fly at any moment! ] * HKenji pushes in through the door. "Hoi." * Seylin can fly too, so there. ;p * HKenji braces for impact. * Seylin looks up from her book and waves at Kenji. "Morning, Kenji!" * Will waves. "Hi Kenji." * Ariake waves idly. "Hey, Kenji." And then there's a clatter, and a gear falls out. "Dammit!" * Tia brightens as she spots Kenji, and doesn't bother to slow down as she bowls him over near the doorway. "Keeeeeenji!" * Seylin giggles. "Tia, be careful!" * HKenji manages not to make a sound as he's bowled over. * Tia giggles and wags her tail like mad. * Patrick snerks. "Hey Kenji!" * Tia turns and grins at Seylin. * HKenji picks himself up. * HKenji carefully rearranges his topknot. * Tia stands aside as Kenji gets up, and she grins toothily. "Heehee!" * HKenji looks around and apparently doesn't spot what he was looking for. * Alcinoe dashes down the stairs, longsword in hand... then slows when she reaches the bottom. "Don't *do* that! Ya know what that sound means at mah old house?" And then she grins. "Howdy, Kenji." * Tia looks around, a blank expression on her face. "Huh? Whatcha lookin' for, Kenji?" * Tia looks up and grins at Alcinoe. "Hiya, Alci!" Which sound, Alcinoe? The yelling, the falling, or the clattering gears? Istvan. He's been avoiding me. * Patrick grins. "I bet he just doesn't wanna mess with ya." * Will waves to Alci. "Good Morning!" Isty's been avoiding you? Yes. * Ariake bangs on something with a wrench. Oh... well... I guess it's better that way if you don't fight. * Tia jumps and turns to face Ariake. "Hey, Ari, whatcha makin'?" * HKenji hops lightly over Tia's tail. * Ariake grins. "Almost done!" * Alcinoe waves back, then leans the sword against the wall and walks over to flop onto the couch next to Will. Ah'd say... yes ta that, Sey. * Seylin nods. "Gotcha." * Patrick smirks. "Sure thing Alcinoe." * Seylin turns her attention to Ariake. "So, what are you almost done with, or is it a surprise?" * Ariake grins. "It's a quiz machine. It can automatically ask people questions, and figure out how well they're doing." Ooh, sounds interesting! Can we all try it when you're done? * Patrick grins. "That's definetly cool. Wonder how you're doing it." * Tia jumps up and down. "I wanna try!" * Ariake nods. "Sure!" * Istvan wanders into the common room. By his soot-stained clothes, you can tell he was just working the forge. "Hey everyone." None of it's very intricate, it just has to be able to sort through a big catalog of questions. * Ariake waves. "Hi, Istvan!" Neat! * Seylin then turns her attention to Istvan. "Morning, Istvan!" * HKenji nods briefly to Istvan from across the room. * Tia turns and waves. "Hiya, Isty!" Hey Istvan. ^_^ You've been working in the forge Istvan? You sure wake up early on a Sunday. * Istvan shrugs. "Last time I slept in, I woke up an inch tall. s'good incentive to get up early." * Tia giggles. "That wasn't because of you, Isty. It was the bards' fault." * Alcinoe waves, casually. "Howdy, Istvan." * Will nods in agreement. Aww, but it all worked out in the end! Yeah, they're pretty spoony. ^_^ * Tia grins at Seylin and nods. "It was fun!" And they made us pie! We got things fixed, and next time they won't catch us off- guard so easily. ^_~ * Tia wags her tail. Plus, I had some work to get done, and I was running a bit behind. ...spoony? What kind of insult is spoony? * Seylin nods sagely. "Spoony." Does that mean "like a spoon"? You could say that. * Patrick just smiles. [ There is an imperious knock at the front door. ] * Tia jumps up and runs to the door. C'mon in, it's open! * Tia flings it open. * Alcinoe watches Tia fling the door open and snickers. Hi! * HKenji turns to face the door. [ As Tia flings the door open, there stands a tall, lovely human woman with long, red hair, dark blue eyes, and wearing a suit of richly decorated red chainmail. ] * Tia grins at the woman. * Seylin waves cheerfully to her. "Good morning! May we help you?" * HKenji quirks an eyebrow at the woman he does not recognize. * Will waves hello. * Patrick waves at the woman and smiles smile #4. * Ariake peers out of the slowly-forming pile of stuff and waves hello. Her eyebrows are a bit singed now. * Istvan grunts hello-fully. Are you here visiting someone? * Anastasia spends a split second eyeing Tia and then proceeds to waltz RIGHT past her and into the room, and straight towards Kenji. She's smiling but it's not exactly a pretty smile, more like "I am going to eat you alive" smile. "Well, well, well. Kenji Hosokawa." * Alcinoe looks the woman over. She raises an eyebrow, then uses Will's wave as an opening to scoot closer to him. * Tia blinks and turns as the woman brushes past her, and she opens her mouth slightly as the woman says Kenji's name. It's nice to finally see you. * Tia runs over to Kenji's side. "Who's your friend, Kenji?" * HKenji bows just slightly to the woman. "I am Kenji of Hosokawa. It is a pleasure to meet you." * Seylin watches the woman walk over to Kenji and blinks once, rather confusedly. * Ariake blinks. A few eyebrow hairs fall out. * Patrick walks over and has a seat next to Seylin, whispering in her ear. You have me at a disadvantage, miss...? * Seylin whispers back. * Will 's arm freezes in midair for a few sec and Will contemplates what to do. He then places his arm hesitantly around Alci's shoulders. * Patrick shrugs and grins. * Tia wags her tail and grins at the woman again. * Alcinoe smirks. "Good boy," she says, just loud enough for Will to hear. She keeps her attention on Kenji and... whoever this new person is. * Anastasia stands tall and looks impressively important. "_I_ am Anastasia Soraya Zeppelin! And I am your fiancee." * Tia blinks. "Huh?" * HKenji pales. "...excuse me?" ... * Seylin blinks a few times. "Wait, what?" * Will blushes. * Patrick raises an eyebrow and smirks. Fi...fiancee? * Anastasia pokes Kenji in the chest to punctuate each syllable. "Youre fi-an-cee." ... you poor, poor woman. * HKenji frowns. "That's not possible." * Tia tugs on Kenji's sleeve and whispers, "Hey, Kenji, what's a fiancee?" What does it matter what's possible? We are engaged, and that is all there is to it. I assume you've the means to prove your claim? * Patrick whispers to Seylin. * Alcinoe looks *very* interested in this news, and almost a little angry, even ignoring Will's blush. She has the sense to stay quiet, though. Engaged? * Seylin whispers back. * Tia looks profoundly confused. * Anastasia reddens a little. "You have the audacity to question? Very well, since you do not have the sense to recognize the truth when it is in front of your face, here is a letter for you." She holds it out. * Tia peers at the letter curiously. * HKenji takes the letter, opens it swiftly, and skims the contents. * Tia glances at the letter over Kenji's shoulder. * HKenji pales as he spots his father's chop at the bottom. * HKenji folds up the letter and tucks it away in his sleeve. * Anastasia smiles. "You see?" * Tia tugs on Kenji's sleeve again. "What did it say?" * HKenji speaks softly, almost hoarsely. "So be it. It appears that we are to be married." * Tia gasps. "M-marri-w-what??" * Patrick winces and whispers to Seylin. Who all decided this? * Seylin whispers back. * Anastasia finally looks at the rest of the people. "Are these your friends, Kenji?" Yes. * Tia instinctively clutches Kenji in her arms. Yes, inas-Tia, let me go, please. * Patrick whispers back and shrugs. * Tia blinks at Kenji, then reluctantly lets go of him. Her face appears drained of all blood. If I have any friends in this place, these are them. * Anastasia smiles again. "How nice. You'll have to leave them, of course, and return with me." * Seylin whispers back. She looks fairly worried. No! And why is this, exactly? * Tia hugs Kenji again. * HKenji straightens up and deftly manouvres out of Tia's hug. You think to order me about? * Ariake is obviously annoyed, and the rapidly disintegrating eyebrows just make it more obvious. * Tia blinks as Kenji eludes her embrace. * Alcinoe settles into a frown. * Will looks alternatively at Kenji and Anastasia, trying to make sense of what is going on. * Patrick whispers back to Seylin, looking over at the situation going on every few seconds. * Patrick smirks. * Seylin whispers back, giving Anastasia and Kenji a quick glance. * Patrick nods and whispers back. Oh, no, I would never dream of such a thing. But of course you must return for the wedding, and to see your family.And for any other little ceremonies in store for us. And the wedding will take place when? * Seylin nods and gives a quick answer back. * Tia frowns. Now that the color has come back into her face, she begins to look more indignant than shocked. "No! You can't!" * Seylin then turns her full attention to the rapidly disintigrating situation. * Patrick raises an eyebrow then responds quickly to Seylin in whisper. * Anastasia waves her hands, platemail clanking. "It's not as if I knew about this either. Or how any of this silliness is supposed to go, where you come from." The wedding will be scheduled when we arrive, or so I've been told. * Seylin whispers back. * Anastasia heaves a deep sigh and rolls her eyes. Where will it be held? * Tia wrings her paws. "Keeeenji..." Your guess is as good as mine. It's not like I got a manual on any of this. Wonderful. So where are we to go? * Tia 's claws dig anxiously into the floor. Your home, I'm guessing. Someone in my entourage has the actual directions, and I haven't been paying too much attention to it. Very well. * Anastasia grins, slyly. "I've been planning too much to pay attention. Don't be too sad, dear, it might be fun, us having a home and children..." * Tia takes Kenji's arm. "But, Kenji..." ... many, many children.... * Tia eyes Anastasia with a sudden look of resentment foreign to her usually carefree countenance. * HKenji frowns angrily at Anastasia. "Enough." You got no say in this, Kenji? * Anastasia smiles, just a little. "Sadly he doesn't. It's all pre- arranged, by his father and mine... it's all so tragic, isn't it?" * Tia emits a barely audible growl. Duty is duty. * Anastasia stops smiling. "Of course.... there IS a loophole... or so I've been told." She casts a glance askance at Tia. * Alcinoe shrugs, Will's arm moving with her shoulders. Less angry and more thoughtful. * Seylin speaks up. "What kind of loophole?" * Patrick smirks. "Explain." * Tia 's tail lashes behind her and slaps the floor of the common room. * HKenji smiles a little, grateful for Seylin asking what he couldn't. * Will notices Alci's movement and glances at her sideways. Weeeellll..... * Anastasia looks around for a chair. * Alcinoe meets his gaze, mouths, "Later", and goes back to watching. [ There are many chairs in the room; none are currently flying. ] * Anastasia sits down in one, clanking in her plate. "I've been told there's no way to cancel the marriage, per se." She's not smiling now. * Will turns his gaze back towards Anastasia and Kenji. But there is a way to delay it, for exactly one year. * HKenji quirks an eyebrow. * Tia frowns. All you have to do is go on a little quest for me. I am no stranger to questing, no matter the reason. ...What quest? * Anastasia smiles again. "Good, good. Nothing too hard, nothing too long." She motions. "Do sit down, we're talking business." * HKenji kneels easily on the floor, pulls a cup of tea from his sleeve, and sips delicately. You see, there's a pesky necromancer I'd love for you to get rid of. He's being a nuisance to my family, and we want him gone. * Alcinoe closes her eyes, whispering a few words to herself, then opens them as she looks at Anastasia. A moment later and she's back to using Will as a pillow. * Tia doesn't sit, but paws uneasily at the floor. Necromancers? Undead we can handle. * Patrick cracks his neck and smirks. "That all?" His undead haven't just been attacking. One of them infiltrated the government and really made an awful mess of things. They don't even look undead, some of them. Like real people. * Will tries to let Alci be as comfortable as possible. And he has a lot of them. * Ariake frowns. * Seylin hmms softly. * Patrick smirks. * Anastasia spreads her hands and smiles again. "And that's all. Nothing bad, like I said." I would be pleased to take care of this small matter on your behalf. * Tia is quiet. ... you looked like you were looking foward to marrying Kenji. Getting rid of this necromancer more important? Oh, let's just say that I can wait. Anticipation, after all, is the spice of love. *beam!* * Tia frowns again. * Alcinoe snorts. "Ah bet she don't wanna marry him at all." * Patrick grins. "Ya think?" * Anastasia stands. "I really must go, now that this little matter is settled. It was so nice to meet all of you." She beeeeeeaaams! Especially at Tia. Whether we wish to marry or no, it will happen. * HKenji stands and bows deeply to his future wife. If you would be so kind as to direct us to this necromancer before you leave? At least to his general vicinity? * Tia covers her face and runs out of the room. * Seylin gets up quickly and goes after her. * Ariake goes to do likewise, and gets her collar snagged on a gear. "Aargh..." * Patrick watches Sey go after Tia, then walks up to Kenji. He smirks. "No way around it, is there?" He's near my family's canyon. * Anastasia hands Kenji a small scroll. "Directions and known underworld entrances, all ready for you." *beam!* * HKenji tucks the scroll into his sleeve. "Very well. I shall come to you when this matter is resolved." I'll look forward to it. * Alcinoe sighs and pulls Will's arm from around her shoulders to stand. "Girl talk." She heads after Tia and Seylin. * Ariake extracts herself from the gears and follows. * Anastasia clumsily half-bows to Kenji, then winks at him. "Make sure to bring your girlfriend." She walks out of the room, laughing all the way. * Will nods as he watches Alci stand up. * HKenji collapses onto a couch. * HKenji holds his head in his hands. ... is it just me, or does this smell like pre-arrainged blackmail? Blackmail? * Will walks over to Kenji. "Something seems wrong with that whole exchange." No. Just politics. * Patrick jumps into the seat and smirks, leaning back. "Sounds like she doesn't like it either, if ya ask me." Blackmail. She had the scroll with the location of this necromancer handy? Why? Such things are common enough. Because she knew all along that you'd want out, and was counting on you taking her up on her offer. * Patrick smirks. "So? What if she wants out as well?" Irrelevant. Our families have agreed. There is no way out of the marriage without dishonoring both houses. But didn't she mention something about there beeing no way out Pat? I can't believe they engaged me to a gaijin. Isn't there some rule that you can't arrainge a marraige under false pretenses, to blackmail someone into doing something for you? Hey, Kenji, let me see that letter. ^_^ No. In fact, tasks and exchanges of property are often included in the deal that a marriage is meant to seal. Which letter, Patrick? The one, I'm guessing, that's from your father tellin' you to marry Anastasia. Okay... any chance the letter's a fake? Have you recently learned to read Rokugani? * Patrick shrugs. "Nope. But if ya got another letter from your pop, I bet I can figure out if it's valid enough." I know my father's hand. And his chop. And if this IS fake, it will all turn out when we arrive in the Hosokawa lands. Maybe that's the point, though. You don't find out it's a fake until *after* we do this. Are your family's lands next to each other Kenji? So either this lady gets a job done for free... or we walk into some kinda trap. * Patrick shrugs and smirks. Even if this IS fake... I cannot ignore it. My ancestors cry out in fury at the thought of so many undead running free. Yeah, really. It's a good thing to do, we waste some undead, get some treasure, then come back. Hell, I bet we'll even get extra credit. ^_^ Okay. Lemme rephrase. If it's fake, it would be good to find out it's fake as soon as possible, for Tia's sake. * Will nods fervently at Istvan's comment. I've no way to send a message to my father, unfortunately. The mages around here have to have some way to send messages long-distance. Yeah. Hell, the druids are excellent at that. ^_^ So stop sulking, get on your damn feet, and do something about this. For Tia's sake, if not your own. * HKenji stands up. Very well. You say the druids have a means of sending messages? Yeah. Tell me what'cha need to send and I can get one of'em to send an animal messenger across the mountains. 'course it'd be even easier if we could have one of'em teleport ya there. Ya got oak trees where you're from, right? I believe so. Though wood is often in short supply in Lion lands. * Patrick nods. "You could probably hitch a ride with a druid then, too. Got to be pretty powerful first, though, but around here that's not really a problem." No. A message will be sufficient. Why do you need oak trees Pat? * HKenji walks out the door. "Come with me, please." * Patrick glances over and pulls out a Magic For Dummies (Druidic) book, flipping to a page. "Druids can typically transport themselves and others across great distances by moving through plants. The plants moved through must be of the same type." Whoa nice. Guess I'll need to review druid spell capabilities when I got time. * Patrick puts the book away and walks over to Kenji. "Just letting ya know, the person you're sending it to needs to expect an animal messenger." ^_^ Carrier pigeons are not unknown in Rokugan. We're all set then! * Patrick heads out to the druid grove, a smile on his face. * Istvan walks along. "So your folks can just say 'Marry someone', and you gotta go along with it? That fucking sucks." Marriages are an excellent way to seal a treaty between families. The completion of negotiations are almost always accompanied by at least one marriage, often more. * Will follows alongside of Istvan. * HKenji heads to the druid grove! Any idea which treaty was your marriage a part off? No. Most likely it's to seal an important trade agreement, however. It has to be important to involve someone of my rank. Yeah, you're pretty high up, aren't ya? Yes. So that red haired woman should be pretty high ranked too. (A note - she was not Rokugani.) ( Not with hair THAT color. ) I am uncertain of her rank, but was likely significant, as she referred to her family's canyon. [ You all reach Teh Drooid Grove. ] * HKenji walks right into the grove, looking for anybody who's around. * Patrick looks around and knocks on a tree. "Stay here for a little, guys. The druids are kinda secretive, I'll see if one of them's willing to take a message for you." * Patrick vanishes into the brush. * Will looks around the grove in wonder. "Interesting place." It is well cared for. * Will grins. "So differant from our place, Flying Couches." More trees. Less... well, roof. * Patrick comes out of the brush in front of you, leading a disturbingly well-groomed winged elf. Patrick smirks. "Say hello to Jadel." ( Funny. He doesn't *look* Druish. ) * Jadel has joined #CanyonHome * Istvan nods at the new guy. * Jadel most certainly doesn't look druidish, despite the very multi- colored feathered wings. He has a scimitar on his back and looks over you. "A message, hmm? Where to? And how urgent?" He smiles and his teeth certainly sparkle. * Will waves hi and waits for Kenji to speak up. * Patrick stands by, letting Kenji do the talking. To Rokugan. Of the utmost importance. It concerns my impending marriage. * Jadel looks over Kenji once more. "Certainly. Who for, and would you like me to bring anything on the way back?" For Hosokawa Juri, lord of the Hosokawa. A return message will be required. * Patrick smirks. * Jadel nods and grins. "Alright, I'll do it. I love Rokugan anyways, such a nice place. Oh, would you have some kind of written message for me to take? I'd hate to show up empty-handed." Just a moment. * HKenji pulls brush, paper, and ink from his sleeve and swiftly pens a missive, then stamps his personal chop on the paper at the bottom. He folds it carefully and offers it to the druid as he puts the writing materials back in his sleeve. I would ask how you have been to Rokugan, but for one as close to the elements as yourself, it is no problem not to be taken for a gaijin, I would imagine. * Jadel takes it and puts it in a satchel he has on his side and bows, changing into a human appearing *very* much Rokugan. "I'll be back shortly, then." * Jadel walks *into* one of the trees, leaving nothing behind. ... okay, that's pretty nifty. * Will blinks at the tree Jadel walked into. "Amazing stuff these druids." If someone could figure out a way to do that with stone... wow. * Patrick grins. "They're like that. Never got into it myself, though." * Will sits down on a large rock while waiting for Jadel to return. They are quite impressive. And not so... unnatural as certain other workers of magic. ... you know, you're gonna hafta talk to Tia about this. * Patrick sits down next to one of the trees, leaning against it. He smiles. "So, assuming that's true, you gotta marry Anastasia. That's gonna be tough on Tia... I hope Sey can talk her down." Seylin should already have talked her down. Months ago. * Patrick grins. "She never expected trouble to come looking, though." ... I repeat. You're gonna hafta talk to Tia about this. Yes, I am. It'll work out fine in the end I'm sure, Kenji. * Istvan nods, brow furrowed. * Patrick shrugs and smirks. "Hope ya can do it without her breaking the house. Or any other standing structures. Or the floor." I'll talk to her outside. If ya need me to help, I will. Somethin' tells me the ladies are taking care of it, though. ^_^ No. This is between myself and Tia. Guess so. Man, that's gotta stink... Can't imagine myself doing that. * Jadel appears out of the tree behind Kenji and taps him on the shoulder with a letter in response, changing back into his normal form of a winged elf. "That wasn't so bad now, was it?" I'll tell you, your folks are lousy tippers. * HKenji blinks. That was... fast. What'd I tell ya. He's good. ^_^ * HKenji turns around and takes the proferred letter, then makes up for his da's poor tipping. * Jadel graciously accepts it. "Good to see it doesn't it run in the family." * HKenji shrugs and opens the letter, and skims it. * HKenji frowns, then gets uncharacteristically angry and tears it to shreds. * Patrick looks over at Jadel. "Eh... maybe you should get out of here." Don't have to tell me twice. * Jadel flies away. [ Kenji mulches the Druid Grove. ] * Will blinks at Kenji ripping up the letter, but waits patiently for Kenji to explain wht he just read. * HKenji shakes visibly for several seconds, then masters himself and sighs. "It's real. I'm getting married." * Patrick smirks. "Keep delaying the marriage by going on missions." Or tell her to go blow it out her troll. I remember you saying something about courage... Family is family, Istvan. I will not dishonor my family. * Patrick shrugs and smirks. "I might not agree with it, but I don't think Ana had any say in this either." Not uncommon. But whether we wish it or not, our families wish it, and so it will happen. * Istvan mutters. "Do as I say, not as I do..." Don't s'pose there's anything like a divorce in your part of the world, is there? ^_^ Yes. ( It's called 'Seppukku'. ) ( Pretty much. ) * Patrick smirks, then rephrases his question. "Somethin' that doesn't involve killing your honor or parts of your family?" Death works. It is, however, rather final. That certainly doesn't solve anything. Any other options? * Patrick grins. "Somewhat final. There are ways around it. I've seen Jadel bring dead animals back to life before. Granted... they weren't the *same* animals, but still." The only honorable way back is reincarnation, and that takes time. Okay, that's not an option. What else? I marry her and have a discreet affair with Tia. * Patrick raises an eyebrow and grins. "How common is that?" * Istvan STARES at Kenji. ... That's okay? Quite common. It is a great dishonor if it is revealed, of course, but as long as the matter is kept discreet... * Patrick smirks. "Your secret's safe with me." ... I don't think that'd fly with Tia. And I severely doubt it'd fly with her parents. And can you imagine Tia being involved in *anything* discreet? I never said it was a GOOD option. I think the important thing is to do what *you* feel is right, Kenji. * Patrick nods and smiles. You're wrong, Will. The important thing is to do what is honorable. Eh, right. You're all in to honor... And cheating on your 'wife' would be honorable? * Patrick grins. "If yer not caught." As long as we're going by that definition of honor, why not invite Tia's dad to meet this woman, and ask him to 'accidentally' step on her a few times? * Will shakes his head. "What is good is right, Kenji." I will not have my fiancee killed. And I never said I would carry on an affair with Tia. I merely recognize that it is a possibility. Hell, Tia could challenge her to a duel for you. Eh, somethin' tells me she'd kick Tia's butt in a duel. One good hit is all it takes. My future wife is... a formidible warrior. I ain't talkin' a Kenji-style duel, Pat, with all that 'run at each other and try and kill with a single strike' bullshit. I'm talking a DUEL. Two people beat the crap outta each other. One wins. Tia would die in a flash. * Patrick smirks. "You've seen me shoot enough to know that." ... how d'ya figure that? In a straight-on brawl, Tia could knock me around. And while I try to be humble... I'm a pretty good fighter. Yeah. Tia's especially frightful when's she's enraged too. The way that woman walks, the way she moves in her armor, the way she sized up each and every one of us as she entered. Every possible sign indicates that she could kill Tia in a matter of seconds. Not only that, but I bet Kenji's family wouldn't marry him off to a whimp. * Istvan eyes Kenji, then rubs his neck. "I'll trust you on that one, I guess. Could you take her?" In an iaijutsu duel? Perhaps. In a melee skirmish? No. How good are we talking, skirmish-wise? Relative to, say, me. She'd wipe the floor with me? Yes. You and I together might be able to defeat her. One of us would certainly die in the process, however. * Patrick shrugs and smirks. "Interesting discussion and all, but don't you think we should get back to FC?" Yes. * HKenji begins the walk back. * Patrick hits the tree hard with his elbow, an apple falling into his hand. He munches it on the way back. * Will stands up and follows Kenji back to FC. ...well, that's nice and sobering. *walks* * Istvan mutters. "Just for once, couldn't someone giving us trouble be a weenie?" * Patrick laughs. "'course not. What'd the fun be in that." Not getting beaten on, for one. * Will nods at Istvan. "Yeah. One can always hope." [ Well, you could, I dunno, try to avoid confrontation? ....nawwww. ] * Patrick shrugs. "Guess that's pretty important. 'course, I always like the idea of eliminating the trouble before it becomes trouble." We are not killing my fiancee. At times like this... it'd prolly be handy to be evil. I didn't say *kill* per se. Just eliminate. Er. It troubles me to hear you guys talk like that. NO, Patrick. * Patrick grins at Will. "Why's that?" Well, it would, Will. Not saying I *want* to be evil. But it would be simpler if we didn't have these darn morals in our way. Could just arrainge to accidentally stab her thirty times or something. But since we're moral people, we can't do that. * Patrick shrugs. "No, we can't. We can, however, see if there's another loophole." * Will glares at Pat. "Doing the right thing doesn't mean looking for loopholes Pat." * Patrick grins at Will. "It's all relative, though." * Will shakes head at Pat but doesn't comment further. [ You get back to the Flying Couches home. ] If you go on the theory that forcing someone to do something against their will is wrong, then findin' a loophole outta it... I dunno. I'm a smith, not a philosopher. * HKenji pushes his way through the front door. Yeah. I'd ask Bahamut to guide me in these situations 'course, if it was me I'd just say screw it and run off. But that's just me. [ Alcinoe and Seylin come down the stairs on the way to the kitchen. ] * Patrick waves at Seylin (and Alci, too.) "Hey!" He walks quickly over to Seylin and whispers something. * Seylin would wave, but her arms are full of bowls and spoons and empty ice cream containers. Hi, guys! * Seylin is then whispered to. [ That's the remains of your ice cream, Pat. ] * Ariake appears, and promptly dives into the nearly-finished machine. * Will waves at Alci. "Hello. Is everything okay?" * Tia walks downstairs behind Ariake. * Patrick raises an eyebrow and looks at the ice cream, then whispering back. * Seylin giggles and whispers back. * Seylin smiles brilliantly at him. * Patrick shrugs and whispers. * HKenji frowns at Seylin. * Istvan waves, and plomps down on the couch. * Alcinoe nods to Will. "Yeah. Things're fine." Her arms are full, too, and she gives Kenji a nasty glare before heading into the kitchen. * Ariake snaps something into place, and there is a CLANK. * Seylin whispers back, and does not see Kenji. Okay. Must needs get this to the kitchen. * Will follows Alcinoe to the kitchen to see if he can help with anything. * Patrick takes a few of the bowls off of Sey's hands and pats her on the back, helping her take care of the dishes. * Seylin heads off. One, two, three! * Tia pads quietly over to Kenji and sits down by him, but she says nothing. * Ariake hits something with her elbow, and there's a CLUNK. Then: "No! WRONG ANSWER! NO POINTS FOR YOU!" And there's an explosion that sends her pitching backwards out of the machine, a third of the way across the room. Tia... we should take a walk. * Ariake punches the air. "Yesss! It works!" * Tia glances over at Kenji. "A walk?" Yes. A walk. * Tia shrugs, then nods. "Okay." * Istvan eyes Ariake. "It's supposed to do that? What is it, a torture chamber?" * HKenji holds the door for Tia. Well, the charge is turned way down for normal use, but it can be higher if you're using it for studying. It'll really make you learn the answers. * Tia walks wordlessly out the door. That's... a study guide? * Ariake nods. "That or just a trivia game machine. You can swap out the question sheets." ... that's sadistic, cruel, and just plain wrong. Good work, Ariake. * Ariake grins. "Thank you!" * Ariake attaches the front and side panels, toggles some switches, and packs her tools up. "And it's done." * Istvan watches Kenji and Tia leave, and rubs his forehead. "Whatta revoltin' development." * Ariake just nods. "I can't believe that things like that still happen." Poor Tia. Poor Kenji, too. ... honestly? If it was just Kenji, I wouldn't be sheddin' a tear. But Tia's involved, so... undead killing it is, for now. * Ariake nods. * Istvan mutters. "I wouldn't spit in Kenji's face if his nose was on fire, if it wasn't for Tia..." But it is for Tia, so... it would prolly be immoral to challenge Kenji's fiancee to a game with that quiz box, and to set the penalty explosion to 'liquify', right? * Ariake grins. "Oh, I like the way you think." ... definately immoral. * Ariake nods. "Alas, yes." Evil may suck... but sometimes, it'd be damn convenient. * Ariake sighs. "Very much so. If she had actually arranged this, I doubt I'd even pause." I suggested having Tia's dad 'accidentally' step on her a few times... but, again, the morals problem. * Ariake nods. And Kenji says she's a freaking badass fighter, so Tia challenging her to a duel won't work. I doubt any of us are prepared to dabble in politics... ... this group? Ha! * Istvan gets up. "I gotta get back to the forge, get some work done before lunch. Lemme know if you need any metalwork done for your next project, okay? I offer reasonable prices." * Ariake nods. "Thanks!" [ Session End! ]